Guardaval ruin
Trail running
· Engadin St. Moritz
The tour leads you to a rocky promontory above Madulain where the ruins of Guardaval castle ("valley guard" in Romansh) have towered over the valley since the 13th century.
moderate
Distance 8 km
The starting and finishing points of this tour are in Madulain, the smallest of the Upper Engadin municipalities. From Madulain, the route leads you southwest past the village limits. Here, the circular trail takes you via the underpass in the direction of Chamues-ch to the church of San Andrea. Continue past the village square to the Chamuera-stream which you follow towards the Inn. Now the warm-up phase is over and the ascent to the Albula pass begins. For the first 500 m you follow the Albula road, but then you turn left at the first bend and following the Albula stream (Ova d'Alvra in Romansh). After approx. 800 m, you need to pay close attention as you must not miss the right turn in the middle of the meadow. You will reach the Albula road again, but after 200 m, a hiking trail takes you through the Arschaida forest. After a short ascent and a relatively flat traverse, you reach the clearing Plaun Grand where a signpost directs you to turn right, down to the castle ruins. From here you can easily imagine the once busy traffic on the roads to and from the Albula pass that needed to pass by this customs station. Enjoy the view of the wide high valley and its surrounding mountains before descending to Madulain.
More information
Engadin St. Moritz Tourismus AG
Via Maistra 1
CH-7500 St. Moritz
Phone: +41 81 830 00 01
Email: allegra@engadin.ch
Internet: www.engadin.ch
Author’s recommendation
At the end of June the open air concert "Guardaval Sounds" takes place at the Guardaval ruin.

Author
Engadin St. Moritz
Update: May 03, 2021
Difficulty
moderate
Technique
Stamina
Experience
Landscape
Highest point
1,986 m
Lowest point
1,678 m
Best time of year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Track types
Asphalt
1.7 km
Forested/wild trail
1.1 km
Path
3.1 km
Road
2.2 km
Start
Madulain railway station (1,697 m)
Coordinates:
SwissGrid
2'791'561E 1'162'592N
DD
46.587129, 9.938489
DMS
46°35'13.7"N 9°56'18.6"E
UTM
32T 571896 5159712
w3w
///clumped.chap.mugs
Destination
Madulain railway station
Turn-by-turn directions
Madulain station - Punt da Sass - Church San Andrea in Chamues-ch - La Punt - Drosa - God Arschaida - Plaun Grand - Guardaval ruin - Madulain station
Note
Wildlife refuge Plaun Grand: December 20 - April 30
all notes on protected areas
Public transport
Public-transport-friendly
Take the train to Madulain stationParking
some parking spaces at the Madulain stationCoordinates
SwissGrid
2'791'561E 1'162'592N
DD
46.587129, 9.938489
DMS
46°35'13.7"N 9°56'18.6"E
UTM
32T 571896 5159712
w3w
///clumped.chap.mugs
Arrival by train, car, foot or bike
Difficulty
moderate
Distance
8 km
Duration
1:31 h
Ascent
309 m
Descent
309 m
Highest point
1,986 m
Lowest point
1,678 m
Statistics
2D
3D
Maps and trails
- 4 Waypoints
- 4 Waypoints
Distance
km
Duration
: h
Ascent
m
Descent
m
Highest point
m
Lowest point
m
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